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Foreign investors in Hungary
Less welcome
Are populist politicians turning on foreign capital?
FOREIGN investment helped catapult central Europe to prosperity over the past 20 years. To escape the current recession it will need more of it. But a populist response to the economic crisis is pulling in the opposite direction, as several recent incidents in Hungary illustrate.
The body that administers Hungary’s airwaves, ORTT, has taken the two nationwide radio licences away from foreign-owned stations and given them to two local firms, one of which has links to Fidesz, the right-wing opposition party. The body’s chairman, Laszlo Majtenyi, has resigned, complaining that the decision—by delegates from Fidesz and the ruling Socialist party—broke the law. A parliamentary investigation has been blocked, prompting speculation about a political stitch-up.
The foreigners are appealing against the decision. American diplomats in Budapest, who have lobbied for one of the dispossessed stations, owned by Emmis Communications, an American media firm, are seething. Accession Mezzanine Capital, an investment fund based in Vienna that is the owner of Radio Danubius, the other loser, notes that Hungary should treat outsiders better, given that it is surviving thanks to an “IMF lifeline”.
Similar worries surround a case from September, when the local government of Pecs, a town in southern Hungary, unilaterally terminated its contract with Suez Environnement, a French company that was running the local waterworks. Having accused the firm of corruption, money-laundering, improper management of funds and, on top of everything else, unreasonably high prices, the local government sent security guards to occupy the waterworks and locked the management out. (Suez’s local subsidiary plans to sue for breach of contract.) President Nicolas Sarkozy of France complained to Gordon Bajnai, Hungary’s prime minister, who in turn attracted fire from opposition politicians for “protecting the foreign capitalists and not the people” after he spoke up for Suez.
Whatever the merits of the case, it is clear that Fidesz, which is likely to return to government next year after eight years in opposition, has stoked discontent with privatisation, foreign investors and, to an extent, free-market capitalism in general. An obscure Fidesz MP, Oszkar Molnar, complained last month about “Jewish capital wanting to devour Hungary”. Fidesz leaders merely called his words “embarrassing”. He retains his seat in parliament.
In 2008 Fidesz helped stop Apollo, an Indian company, from building a tyre factory in the town of Gyongyos. It would have created 900 jobs but Fidesz argued (wrongly) that it involved technology banned in the European Union. Fidesz also backed a referendum to block private investment in the failing national health service. Viktor Orban, the party’s leader, opposes further privatisation and has promised to review some recent deals once in office. The right-wing press brims with conspiracy theories about foreign financiers and global capitalism.
Fidesz denies that it is anti-business. It has enthusiastically backed a big new Mercedes plant in eastern Hungary. Krisztian Orban, managing partner at Oriens, a merchant bank in Budapest, thinks foreign investors worry more about frequent regulatory changes than Fidesz’s populism. The party’s own record is spotty: it ran a steady ship when in office until it splurged to try to win an election in 2002. It has vehemently attacked the government’s recent efforts to stabilise the budget, bloated by years of fiscal profligacy, but says little about its own economic plans. Outsiders must hope that Fidesz can contain the genies it has so casually unbottled.
Foreign investors in Hungary
Less welcome
Are populist politicians turning on foreign capital?
FOREIGN investment helped catapult central Europe to prosperity over the past 20 years. To escape the current recession it will need more of it. But a populist response to the economic crisis is pulling in the opposite direction, as several recent incidents in Hungary illustrate.
The body that administers Hungary’s airwaves, ORTT, has taken the two nationwide radio licences away from foreign-owned stations and given them to two local firms, one of which has links to Fidesz, the right-wing opposition party. The body’s chairman, Laszlo Majtenyi, has resigned, complaining that the decision—by delegates from Fidesz and the ruling Socialist party—broke the law. A parliamentary investigation has been blocked, prompting speculation about a political stitch-up.
The foreigners are appealing against the decision. American diplomats in Budapest, who have lobbied for one of the dispossessed stations, owned by Emmis Communications, an American media firm, are seething. Accession Mezzanine Capital, an investment fund based in Vienna that is the owner of Radio Danubius, the other loser, notes that Hungary should treat outsiders better, given that it is surviving thanks to an “IMF lifeline”.
Similar worries surround a case from September, when the local government of Pecs, a town in southern Hungary, unilaterally terminated its contract with Suez Environnement, a French company that was running the local waterworks. Having accused the firm of corruption, money-laundering, improper management of funds and, on top of everything else, unreasonably high prices, the local government sent security guards to occupy the waterworks and locked the management out. (Suez’s local subsidiary plans to sue for breach of contract.) President Nicolas Sarkozy of France complained to Gordon Bajnai, Hungary’s prime minister, who in turn attracted fire from opposition politicians for “protecting the foreign capitalists and not the people” after he spoke up for Suez.
Whatever the merits of the case, it is clear that Fidesz, which is likely to return to government next year after eight years in opposition, has stoked discontent with privatisation, foreign investors and, to an extent, free-market capitalism in general. An obscure Fidesz MP, Oszkar Molnar, complained last month about “Jewish capital wanting to devour Hungary”. Fidesz leaders merely called his words “embarrassing”. He retains his seat in parliament.
In 2008 Fidesz helped stop Apollo, an Indian company, from building a tyre factory in the town of Gyongyos. It would have created 900 jobs but Fidesz argued (wrongly) that it involved technology banned in the European Union. Fidesz also backed a referendum to block private investment in the failing national health service. Viktor Orban, the party’s leader, opposes further privatisation and has promised to review some recent deals once in office. The right-wing press brims with conspiracy theories about foreign financiers and global capitalism.
Fidesz denies that it is anti-business. It has enthusiastically backed a big new Mercedes plant in eastern Hungary. Krisztian Orban, managing partner at Oriens, a merchant bank in Budapest, thinks foreign investors worry more about frequent regulatory changes than Fidesz’s populism. The party’s own record is spotty: it ran a steady ship when in office until it splurged to try to win an election in 2002. It has vehemently attacked the government’s recent efforts to stabilise the budget, bloated by years of fiscal profligacy, but says little about its own economic plans. Outsiders must hope that Fidesz can contain the genies it has so casually unbottled.
Felhorkant a világ! - A Sláger és a Danubius bukása már a Financial Timesban
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